Press Releases

DEQ once again failing to put public health first, advocates warn

Oct 26, 2015

Changes to state regulation of toxic air emissions proposed today
by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality would raise the risk
of serious health impacts among Michigan families, particularly in
vulnerable communities, public health advocates caution.

The
department today announced it is moving forward with a proposed
administrative rule change requested by industry to deregulate 500 toxic
chemicals which have been subject to oversight in the past.

In
the frequently asked questions document that accompanies the rules, the
document claims that permit applicants "would be required to show that
the listed toxic air contaminants will not threaten public health."
However, the rule change will remove exactly that requirement.

Until
now, Michigan has been among a number of states -- including Minnesota,
Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Texas -- that
regulate all toxic chemicals emitted from industrial facilities.
Michigan now regulates about 1,200 air chemicals, including some that
are presumed toxic because their human health impacts are unknown.

Under
the proposed rule change, the state would stop regulating toxic
chemicals that have not been tested for their impact on public health.
Michigan's current regulations protect public health by assuming any
chemical whose health effects are unknown is very toxic, unless the
emitting facility opts to conduct health testing to determine its
toxicity.

"Under this proposal, state regulators will no longer
be able to tell residents living next to a factory that they have
evaluated the application and it is safe to breathe the air," said James
Clift, policy director for the Michigan Environmental Council (MEC).
"Instead, this proposal saddles Michigan families with the impossible
burden of trying to evaluate the danger posed by chemicals that have
never been tested for their impact on public health."

The
proposed rules also would eliminate regulation of less toxic
non-carcinogenic chemicals, regardless of the quantity emitted. The
proposal arbitrarily draws a regulatory line based on toxicity and would
deregulate the 25 percent of chemicals that are least toxic.

"We
know that a given chemical's human health impacts are the result of not
only how toxic it is, but also how much of the chemical people are
exposed to," said Wibke Heymach, national energy policy coordinator for
the Moms Clean Air Force. "By taking quantity out of the equation, the
department is turning its back on sound science and public health.
Simply put, the proposed rule changes treat Michigan families like
guinea pigs."

The cuts to the air toxics program would be
especially harmful to low-income families and communities of color,
which already suffer more than other Michiganders from the health
impacts of industrial pollution.

Despite the large number of
industrial facilities and the large population of vulnerable residents
in and around Detroit, the state's plan for gathering public input on
the rule changes does not include any meetings in Wayne County.

"Detroiters
stand directly in harm's way from the effects of these rule changes,
and we deserve a fair hearing where we can put our concerns on the
record," said Sandra Turner-Handy, MEC's Detroit-based director of
community engagement. "If the department thinks reducing the regulation
of toxic chemicals in the air we breathe is a good idea, they should
come here and tell us why."

The department will accept public
comments on the proposed rule changes until December 18, 2015. More
information on how to submit comments is available here.

For More InformationRead our backgrounder on the proposed administrative rule change:Will Deregulating Michigan’s Toxic Air Emissions Put Residents at Risk?